NASA Holds Media Briefing On Results Of Black Hole Survey

NASA will hold a media teleconference Wednesday, May 26, at 1 p.m. EDT, to discuss new results from the Swift satellite’s survey of active black holes.

Swift’s hard X-ray survey detects supermassive black holes in the hearts of nearby galaxies that are absorbing gas and emitting energy. The survey has uncovered dozens of previously unknown active black holes that were hidden from observations at other wavelengths. These discoveries confirm theoretical ideas about how black hole activity is triggered.

The teleconference panelists are:

– Neil Gehrels, Swift principal investigator, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
– Michael Koss, graduate student, University of Maryland
– Meg Urry, professor, Yale University
– Joel Bregman, professor, University of Michigan

To participate in the teleconference, reporters should e-mail J.D. Harrington at j.d.harrington@nasa.gov by 10 a.m. EDT May 26. Requests must include the media affiliation and telephone number.

Supporting information for the briefing will be posted at noon on May 26: http://www.nasa.gov/swift

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio